Cup exit and El Ghazi scandal
Hertha BSC takes crisis club Mainz apart
November 1, 2023, 10:46 p.m
Things are not going well for FSV Mainz 05 in the Bundesliga, and the dispute with striker Anwar El-Ghazi is escalating and now they are out of the DFB Cup. The Bundesliga team goes down badly at Hertha BSC. League competitor Eintracht Frankfurt, on the other hand, doesn’t let anything go wrong.
Hertha BSC – FSV Mainz 05 3:0 (1:0)
Relegation battle in the Bundesliga, now also the end of the DFB Cup: The ailing FSV Mainz 05 missed the round of 16 and is sliding deeper and deeper into the crisis. Coach Bo Svensson’s team lost 0-3 (0-1) to second division team Hertha BSC, who can still dream of the final in their own stadium thanks to two penalty kicks. Fabian Reese (45th + 3, penalty kick) and Haris Tabakovic (50th, hand penalty), who was also successful with a header (61st), scored coldly from the spot and shot the hosts into the round of the best 16. Meanwhile, things are coming to a head The situation near the Rheinhessen continues to increase. The Mainz team celebrated their only success of the season so far two and a half months ago in the first round of the cup against SV Elversberg.
The bottom of the Bundesliga table had hoped for a turnaround in the second round of the cup. “The feeling of a sense of achievement can bring you a lot,” Svensson emphasized: “It’s not just about getting ahead one round.” Compared to the 2-2 draw at VfL Bochum last Friday, Svensson changed his starting eleven to five positions and, among others, sent Aymen Barkok onto the field from the start in the Berlin Olympic Stadium. The 25-year-old came into the penalty area at speed right from the start, but Deyovaisio Zeefuik cleared in time (3′).
In a balanced opening phase, things got tricky on the other side for the first time after Mainz lost the ball. But after a cross from Reese, Marten Winkler slipped past the ball just in front of the guests’ goal (10th), and a little later he was denied by keeper Robin Zentner (16th). Mainz had a hard time against the Berlin defense, and the guests initially had no way past Zeefuik, especially on the right side. After a long throw-in, the 05ers finally had the opportunity to take the lead, but Leandro Barreiro hit the crossbar from close range (29′). Instead, Hertha scored the first goal: Maxim Leitsch brought down Florian Niederlechner in the penalty area, Reese coldly converted the penalty. And after the break the next one followed. The ball bounced off Brajan Gruda’s arm during a clearance, and this time Tabakovic scored from the spot. The Berliners didn’t let up, and shortly afterwards the striker headed the ball home.
Viktoria Cologne – Eintracht Frankfurt 0:2 (0:1)
Last year’s finalist Eintracht Frankfurt failed to clear the second hurdle on their return to Berlin and reached the round of 16 of the DFB Cup against Bremen-Schreck Viktoria Köln despite a largely disappointing performance. The five-time cup winner won 2-0 (1-0) at sixth-place Viktoria Köln in the third division, but did no more than do the job according to the rules.
Ellyes Skhiri (14th) scored early for coach Dino Toppmöller’s team, which could now get off to a good start in their favorite competition, as so often happens: When Eintracht has survived the second round since 2015, it has always made it to at least the semi-finals, three times to the final and once (2018) on the title. Viktoria, who outplayed Werder 3-2 in round one, will have to wait for the first round of 16 in the club’s history. With his goal in the 90th minute, Ansgar Knauff destroyed Cologne’s last hopes of extra time and a possible further coup.
In front of 8,343 fans in the sold-out small stadium in the Höhenberg Sportpark, around half of whom were loud Frankfurters, Eintracht coach Toppmöller changed his starting eleven to six positions compared to the 3-3 draw against Dortmund on Sunday. National goalkeeper Kevin Trapp and Rio hero Mario Götze were not in the squad due to back problems. “We should be as high as possible,” warned Toppmöller. And just like in the 7-0 win over regional league team Lok Leipzig in the first round, the Frankfurt team initially acted with great concentration. Skhiri took the lead early on in his old sporting home – the Tunisian was under contract with 1. FC Köln until the summer – after a corner.
Viktoria, whose coach Olaf Janßen played for Frankfurt for three years and was involved in the legendary relegation thriller in 1999, bravely resisted and had their best phase after around 30 minutes. Trapp representative Jens Grahl had to parry three times, Eintracht only did the bare minimum after taking the lead. Even after the break, the second suit couldn’t make its mark, Jessic Ngankam was worn out at the front, the Norwegian Jens Petter Hauge on the left wing remained a disappointment in the Eintracht jersey, both of them called it a day after a good hour. But even with Omar Marmoush, who scored a double goal against Dortmund, Eintracht mostly acted harmlessly and Viktoria was lurking on the counterattack.
1. FC Nuremberg – Hansa Rostock 3:2 (2:2, 0:0)
Joker Felix Lohkemper shot 1. FC Nürnberg into the round of 16 of the DFB Cup in a detention against FC Hansa Rostock. In the emotional duel between two second division soccer teams, the team of former “Club” coach Alois Schwartz amazed with two dry goals in the 2:3 (2:2, 0:0) after extra time. The Nuremberg team showed strong taker qualities on Wednesday evening and celebrated their double goalscorer Lohkemper after a really tough game.
Rostock’s first lead by Junior Brumado in the 58th minute was countered by Kanji Okunuki (63rd). After Christian Kinsombi’s (74th) supposed winning goal in front of 28,489 spectators, Lohkemper (90th + 5) saved the Nuremberg team into extra time at the very last minute. With an arc lamp in the 99th minute, the striker even shot his club into the next round. Youngster Can Uzun (120.+1) failed with a penalty kick.
The people of Rostock only set off fireworks in the guest block. Hansa will be punished for the use of pyrotechnics in the stands. Clouds of smoke continued to drift across the pitch at the Max Morlock Stadium minutes after kick-off. Although Nuremberg had more possession of the ball, they were unable to create a compelling scoring opportunity in the first 45 minutes. The counterattacking Rostock team, on the other hand, got off to a top start in the second half. Svante Ingelsson was able to cross unchallenged on the right to Junior Brumado, who shook off central defender Ivan Marquez and triggered the next pyrotechnic show in the Hansa block.
Coach Cristian Fiel’s team, which had only failed in the quarter-finals of the DFB Cup against VfB Stuttgart in the previous season, was now irritated. Just a minute after his miss, the Japanese Okunuki was free on the left and slammed a right-footed shot into Markus Kolke’s goal to equalize. Hansa reacted coolly. John Patrick Strauß failed to hit the crossbar, but Kinsombi, who had been substituted just six minutes earlier, sank the rebound into the net. Lohkemper, who was only brought into the game in the 85th minute, finally redeemed the Franconians who continued to push with two right-footed shots. After a save by “Club” keeper Christian Mathenia, Uzun even failed from the spot.